The eurozone economy grew by 0.2 percent between April and June, half that of the 0.4 percent registered in the first quarter of 2019, according to the second preliminary GDP estimate published today by the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat.
Compared to the second quarter of 2018, the GDP of the eurozone grew by 1.1 percent, one tenth less than in the first quarter, marking its slowest rate of year-on-year expansion since the fourth quarter of 2013.
In the EU as a whole, the economy also registered 0.2 percent growth in the second quarter, three tenths less than in the first quarter. Compared with the same quarter of 2018, the year-on-year expansion of the EU slowed to 1.3 percent, again the worst figure since the end of 2013.
Of the four major eurozone economies, Spain recorded the highest growth rate, at 0.5 percent in the second quarter, which despite being significantly higher growth than the eurozone average, marked a moderation in its expansion rate of two tenths compared to 0.7 percent registered in the first three months of 2019.
Among the rest of the large euro economies, Germany is on the verge of recession after contracting by 0.1 percent in the second quarter, compared to 0.4 percent growth seen in the first three months of 2019.
France, the second main economic player in the eurozone, saw its expansion in the second quarter slow to 0.2 percent, one tenth less than in the first three months of 2019, as a result of the moderation of household consumption, while Italy’s GDP, the third largest economy in the zone, stagnated between the months of April and June, after growing by just 0.1 percent in the first quarter.
Among the twenty-eight members of the EU for whom figures were released today, the highest growth rate in the second quarter was recorded in Hungary (+ 1.1 percent), ahead of Lithuania and Finland (+ 0.9 percent), while the lowest growth rate was recorded in the United Kingdom (-0.2 percent), behind Germany and Sweden (-0.1 percent).
Second quarter GDP growth in Ireland, Greece, Malta, Croatia, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Estonia are yet to be announced.
